Joseph E. Robach

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Earlier Thursday morning, I had the privilege to attend an event at the Greater Rochester International Airport to launch the official countdown to the 2013 PGA Championship. Next year's tournament will take place from August 5th through August 11th at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford. During today's event, the official countdown clock was unveiled, and the Wanamaker Trophy arrived in Rochester. The trophy, presented to the winner of the PGA Championship each year, will be at the airport for the next year. For more information on the PGA Championship, visit www.pgachampionship.com.

I was pleased to join Dean Franz, Assemblyman Joe Morelle, and others today to announce the agreed upon location of Empire State College in Brighton on property currently owned by the state, located on Westfall Road. Empire State College is an important part of SUNY, allowing adult-learners and people in the work force to have flexible curriculums in pursuit of their professional degrees.

Earlier this afternoon, I had the privilege to take part in a ground-breaking ceremony to kick off a $5.5 million redevelopment plan on Genesee Street in Rochester. Brooks Court will soon be the home of new single-family 1 1/2 - 2 story homes. These homes will have individual garages, front porches, and vinyl siding. They are estimated to be priced between $150,000 and $180,000. The homes are scheduled to be ready for occupancy in late fall. For more information on the project, visit http://www.woodstonecustomhomesinc.com/brookscourt.html.

On Friday, August 17th, I had the privilege to take part in the grand opening ceremony of Vibe Lounge. Vibe is located at Willage Gate and offers jazz trios, funk/blues and neo-souls bands. The lounge has 4,200 square foot of space indoors and features courtyard seating outside.

On Saturday afternoon, I had the privilege to speak at, and present at, the Town of Greece volunteer award ceremony. This event is put on annually by the Greece Community Partners organization to recognize residents throughout the community for their service and dedication. Congratulations to all of this year nominees. They are: Anne Caprio, David Codding, Hildegard DiNatale, Betty Fetter, Ruth Fitzgerald, Donald Howard, Dolores Ketchum, Joyce King, Nancy and Jeff Kliss, Ken Kruger, Jim Kunkel, Francis Maslyn, Norm Morrealle, Diana Needham, Marion Palumbo, Ralph Panfil, Kathy Pospula, Eugene Preston, Ken Preston, Mary Ellen Schramm, and Walter Scott. Here I am pictured with Jim Kunkel, who I had the honor to nominate for this award.

On Tuesday, August 21st, I had the privilege to speak at, and help break ground at, a ceremony to mark the start of construction on a new liberal arts building at The College at Brockport. The new building will be over 60,000 square feet and located to the east of Drake Memorial Library. It is scheduled to open in the fall of 2014, with a projected cost of over $29 million. It is the first new academic building on the campus in 40 years and will house the departments of English, history, modern languages and cultures, philosophy, and women and gender studies. Funding for the project is coming from the SUNY educational facilities five year capital plan, which I am proud to support.

Recently, I had the opportunity to take a tour and see the renovation project for Marketview Heights. Marketview Heights Association (MHA) is a not-for-profit community service organization committed to improving the quality of life within northeast Rochester through underscoring the need for decent housing that is affordable to low and moderate income people. MHA is a HUD approved counseling agency providing Home buyer Counseling and Education for first time home buyers, Home ownership Counseling and Education, and Foreclosure Prevention Services. For more information, visit www.marketviewheights.org.

(Rocheser, N.Y.) - On Friday, August 17th, I had the privilege to attend, and speak at, a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of Anthony L. Jordan's new basic medical and dental services suite at Andrew's Terrace Apartments. For more information on the great work that Anthony L. Jordan Health Center does in our community, visit their website, http://www.jordanhealth.org/.

On Sunday night, August 19th, the Rochester Red Wings hosted 'Strike Out Bullying' night as the team played host to the Empire State Yankees. Prior to the game, I had the privilege to join Citizens Against Teen Suicide to provide remarks and to present a bat, autographed by the Red Wings team, to Karen Klein of Greece, who was the victim of bullying on a school bus earlier this summer. The night also featured a guest appearance by former New York Yankees pitcher Tommy John and motivational speaker Bob Holmes.

In this week's Community Connection, my Back to School Backpacks and Supplies Drive wraps up, the Greece Public Library unveils its latest renovations, and some of the upcoming events around the area in the week ahead. As always, you can read this week's Community Connection in full-screen view by clicking on the link below.

This week, I stopped by the Greece Ecumenical Clothes Closet, located at 500 Maiden Lane, to deliver school supplies that I collected over the past month. Thank you to all of those who supported my Back to School Backpacks and Supplies Drive. Once again this year, I collected backpacks, pens, pencils, notebooks, folders, and other necessary school supplies to donate to the clothes closet. Here I am pictured with Pat Licati, June Mangan, and Joan Wakefield. All are volunteers at the clothes closet.

Recently, I had the privilege to kick off the GRASP Golf Tournament at Pinewood Country Club. GRASP stands for Greece Residents Assisting Stray Pets. For more information on the organization and to read about the great work they do for our community, visit their website, http://www.graspinc.org/.

On Thursday morning, I had the privilege to speak at, and cut the ribbon at, the grand reopening of the Greece Public Library, located on the Town Hall campus. As a part of the renovation, approximately 3,000 square feet of space was re-purposed to create two 1,500 square foot program rooms. Also, the Secondhand Prose Bookstore was relocated to the front of the library and the teen area was relocated to the west of the new program room.

On Saturday, August 11th, I had the privilege to take part in a ceremony to dedicate a peace garden to celebrate 200 years of peace between the U.S. and Canada. The property is located at Mayer's Lake Ontario Winery, 1593 Hamlin Parma Townline Road in Hilton.

In this week's Community Connection, wrapping up the 2012 Back to School Backpacks and Supplies Drive, upcoming events in our Community, and looking back at National Night Out. To view this week's Community Connection in full-screen, click on the link below.

(Rochester, NY) - Last night, I had the privilege to take part in a number of the celebrations around our community to mark National Night Out. Greece, Charlotte, and the Maplewood area were just some of the communities that hosted family-oriented events to take a stand against crime.

In this week's Community Connection, Governor Cuomo signs three pieces of legislation, that I was proud to sponsor, into law; upcoming events around our community; and youth get a send-off at a Rochester fire station before 'Burn Camp 2012'. As always, you can click the link below to read this week's community connection in full-screen.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and local officials today cut the ribbon to unveil one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers for health research, which will be housed at the Health Sciences Center for Computational Innovation (HSCCI) in Rochester. The HSCCI is a $100 million partnership with the University of Rochester and IBM dedicated to applying high performance computing solutions to the nation’s health challenges. Last year, the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council chose the HSCCI as one of its priority projects and received $5 million in state funds for its completion.

Recently, I had the privilege to visit with youth from our community and their families at Puerto Rican Youth Development's Safe Summer Family Day. There were board games, volleyball, a bounce house, and other activities for families to participate in. Great work by everyone involved.

(Clarkson, NY) - On Wednesday Night, August 1st, I had the privilege to present a proclamation to Don Lage, who was honored by the Clarkson Historical Society for his commitment to the restoration of Clarkson Academy. Congrats to Don and thank you for your service to our community!